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Cradle Design

The Cradle to Cradle DesignSM Framework is a revolutionary approach to theredesign of human industry based on the conviction that thoughtful design,mirroring the safe, regenerative productivity of nature, can create an industrythat is sustaining, not just sustainable. In short, the Cradle to Cradle DesignFramework embraces the pursuit of maximum value (economic, ecological,and social) through the practice of intelligent design. It is the foundation of anemerging world in which all human industry is designed to celebrateinterdependence with other living systems, transforming the making andconsumption of things into a regenerative force.

The Cradle to Cradle DesignSM Framework is a revolutionary approach to theredesign of human industry based on the conviction that thoughtful design,mirroring the safe, regenerative productivity of nature, can create an industrythat is sustaining, not just sustainable. In short, the Cradle to Cradle DesignFramework embraces the pursuit of maximum value (economic, ecological,and social) through the practice of intelligent design. It is the foundation of anemerging world in which all human industry is designed to celebrateinterdependence with other living systems, transforming the making andconsumption of things into a regenerative force.

The world will not evolve past its current state of crisisby using the same thinking that created the situation.

– Albert Einstein

1. Introduction

The Cradle to Cradle Design

SM

Framework is a revolutionary approach to theredesign of human industry based on the conviction that thoughtful design,mirroring the safe, regenerative productivity of nature, can create an industrythat is

sustaining

, not just sustainable. In short, the Cradle to Cradle DesignFramework embraces the pursuit of

maximum value

(economic, ecological,and social) through the practice of intelligent design. It is the foundation of anemerging world in which all human industry is designed to celebrateinterdependence with other living systems, transforming the making andconsumption of things into a regenerative force.

The Industrial Revolution launched a period of human endeavor in which thedevelopment of new technologies improved the lives of many of the world’speople. Advances in the affordability of energy and transportation,mechanization and mass production, and communications and informationtechnologies have yielded a host of benefits for industrialized societies.Yet for all the good that came with the Industrial Revolution, its unintendednegative consequences are becoming more apparent all the time.

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Pollution of air, water, and soil from billions of pounds of waste

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Reduced cultural and biological diversity

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Complex environmental and health regulations

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Prosperity measured by activity (GNP, etc.), not legacy

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Degradation of traditional social fabric

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Wide-spread poverty

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Tons of valuable materials lost each year to incineration or landfills

Environmentalists and business leaders sensitive to this legacy have tried tolimit the consequences of industrial production by retrofitting the systems of industry to reduce their harm. Some of their aims include:

Introduction to the Cradle to Cradl

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Releasing less waste into the air, water and soil

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Meeting or exceeding environmental regulations

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Sending less material to landfills

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Making fewer dangerous materials

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Depleting natural resources more slowly.These goals have been most visibly articulated in the widely embracedbusiness strategy of the 1990s,

eco-efficiency

. As admirable as its goals maybe, eco-efficiency does not change the story. At its heart, eco-efficiency is aguilt-driven agenda that takes for granted—even institutionalizes—theantagonism between nature and industry.

The aims of eco-efficiency areessentially to become “less bad”—for instance, beginning with asystem that is 100% “bad”, andseeking to become only 10% bad.e Design

Generates value and opportunity for all stakeholders.Such a system, modeled on the natural world’s abundant creativity, can solverather than alleviate the problems industry currently creates, allowing bothbusiness and nature to thrive and grow.

Eco-Effectiveness: Following Nature’s Design Principles

By pursuing a vision of industry that does not damage ecosystems or socialsystems, Cradle to Cradle Design moves beyond the “less bad” aims of eco-efficiency. It proposes, instead, a new strategy called

eco-effectiveness

.By observing healthy natural systems we can see three basic principles of eco-effectiveness, modeled on the design principles of nature:

Natural systems thrive on complexity. Instead of distilling Darwin’s ideas into the “survival of the fittest,” Cradle to CradleDesign sees greater significance in Darwin’s identification of nature’sprofusion of niches (survival of the ‘fittingest’).

The key principles of eco-effective design were first systematically outlined inthe Intelligent Product System (IPS), developed and articulated by MichaelBraungart and his colleagues at EPEA. IPS provides a framework for cradle-to-cradle product conception and material flow management.Just as in natural systems one organism’s ‘waste’ becomes nutrients for another, IPS utilizes effective nutrient cycles in the realm of human industry.